After the Legacy
by Saturnspaz
Summary: Nothing feels worse than the loss of a loved one, especially when they left so tragically. When they come back in need of help though, things can get a little strange. WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH! KnB Next Generation fic.
1. Chapter 1: Remember the Name

_-Four weeks ago-_

 _Walking out of the school, Kuroko took out his phone and dialed a number. This was the second time he was late getting home. The phone rung for a minute or two, as someone answered, he held the phone to his ear._

 _"_ _Tetsuya, you're late." The clearly female voice said with a bit of irritation in her voice. Even though her voice was soft, it was clear she wasn't very pleased._

 _"_ _I know, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I had to stay after today and help clean up." A sigh was heard on the other side of the phone. Kuroko remained emotionless._

 _"_ _Alright, I guess I can't get mad at you for that." She accepted. "You are coming home soon though, right?" He smiled._

 _"_ _I'm on my way now." A chuckle was heard on the other side._

 _"_ _Good. Dinner's almost ready, so hurry."_

 _"_ _Don't worry, I won't be long." He assured her. "I'm in the car, so I'm hanging up."_

 _"_ _Ok. Drive safe, Tetsuya. Love you."_

 _"_ _Love you too, bye."_

 _"_ _Bye." With that one last word, he ended the call. He couldn't help but smile as he started the car. He was lucky to have someone like her to care for. Lucky that she loved him just the same. As he made his way to the road, he stopped daydreaming and focused on the road. He needed to get home before she called in worry again._

 _About halfway home, the light turned red and he came to a stop. He groaned; now he understood why his mother constantly got angered by these stoplights. It seemed that when you really wanted to get somewhere, it turned red. They were a dilemma! He could just see them laughing at him. At everyone that they had stopped. That was what it felt like. It wasn't a good feeling, and it never would be._

 _When the light finally decided to turn green, he put his foot on the accelerator. It shouldn't be too long now. There weren't any more stoplights where he was heading, so he was golden. Then, a random memory of when he was in middle school crossed his mind. Needless to say, he hasn't thought of that in a while. Why'd he start thinking of it now? He started to laugh when he remembered his first game with the others. Man, he was a nervous wreck! If he remembered correctly, Aomine had compared him to a fawn learning how to walk. He remembered that all too well. Oh, the time when they beat Touou for the first time. That was a thrill for all of them. Technically, that was high school, but it was still a great memory._

 _All of a sudden, he heard the sound of screeching. His eyes widened as he slammed his foot on the brakes._

 _"_ _Mommy," A child asked a little concerned. "What's wrong?" A woman, assuming it was the mother, turned her head with red, puffy eyes still emptying their tears. Her hand up to her mouth trying to muffle the cries._

 _"_ _Honey, go back to your room." Her brittle voice said with little power. The child didn't seem to listen, as he was too worried about his mother._

 _"_ _Why are you crying? Are you ok?" He asked, coming closer to the woman. She tried to shew him away; attempting to cover her face. She didn't want him to see her like this._

 _"_ _Mommy's fine, just…just please, go back to your room." The way his mother was acting was starting to scare him. He had never seen her in such a frail state before; something was seriously wrong._

 _"_ _Where's daddy?" He suddenly asked her. He usually got back before it was dark, but he wasn't here now. As he turned back to his mother, after looking around to see if his father had gotten in somehow (he did have a faint presence), he saw that his mother had gotten worse. Her crying and distress increased; creating confusion for the child. His mother turned to him, showing a look of pity._

 _"_ _Oh, honey, you're father…he-"she was choking on her words. The words that came after sounded distorted to the child's ears. He was frozen in his spot, and a similar look to his mother's crossed his face._

 _"_ _H-huh?" He inaudibly mumbled, voice starting to croak._

To think that the accident happened only four weeks ago.

Ever since he heard the news, he hadn't been going to school. His mother had let him stay home, since he was so broken, but he wished he could say the same to her. Now, she had to get a fulltime job, and he had to get a babysitter. His life had changed in a matter of minutes, and he still couldn't get the words out of his head.

His father, Kuroko Tetsuya, had gotten in a fatal car crash. From what he's heard, it wasn't his fault. In fact, there were rumors of the other driver being drunk when it happened. The fact was he died on impact, and the other guy just ended up in the hospital. He remembered he didn't believe his mother at first, thinking it was some sort of joke. To his dismay, it wasn't. He cried for hours on end and secluded himself in his room. What were you expected to do after hearing something so tragic?

The boy went from completely distraught to enraged after just a few days. He had started blaming the other driver for being so reckless, even if his mother said that blaming him wouldn't change anything. He assumed that he just needed a believable explanation to his father's death other than _just an accident._ After a while, he started wondering, "What if the accident never happened?" And started creating false images of what Kuroko would do if he were still there. How he would be acting if he were still there. Honestly, he wouldn't be upset over anything, his mom would still be picking him up from school, and he would still be welcoming his father home after work. When he thought about this, he just wanted to cry more.

So, now, he was staring up at the ceiling with dead eyes, lying flat on his bed. He couldn't cry anymore; it became too tiring and painful. As of now, he was just waiting for the time to pass by. How long has it been? A few minutes? Maybe. Without warning, a knock came at his door.

"Hisoka," he heard someone say from the other side. "I'm heading off to work, the babysitter will be here soon."

"Kay." He acknowledged. The mother cracked the door open and looked inside. Feeling sorry for her son, she walked in and sat on his bed.

"Things are going to get better, honey. I promise." She tried encouraging. Hisoka shifted his gaze to her, without saying a word. "You just need to give it time." What did she think he was doing? He was giving it time. "Alright, like I said, the babysitter will be here soon. Be good, use your manners. I'll be home around four."

"Kay." He said once again. With one last glance, she left the house. Hisoka's mom was right when she said the babysitter would be there soon; she came a minute or so after she left. Don't get him wrong, the babysitter was nice, but she tried too hard to get in his business. He had just met her that day, yet she was treating him like she knew everything. Perhaps that's what babysitters are supposed to do, or maybe his mother had told her about the accident. He couldn't know for sure.

To his dismay, his mom had to stay later to learn the ropes of the job, and was aiming for some extra money he thought. So, the babysitter was getting payed overtime to stay later, and make sure Hisoka got to bed and all that. However, he went to bed a lot earlier than needed to. Honestly, he wanted to wait for his mother to get home, but he didn't want to try and convince the sitter to let him stay up. But, now, he couldn't seem to get comfortable. Was he too stressed? Was he too worried? He couldn't tell if either options were correct. All he knew was that he couldn't go to sleep no matter what he did. He resulted in staring up at the ceiling once more.

"It's no use, I'm not tired." He thought to himself. What would he usually do if he couldn't go to sleep? Counting sheep doesn't work at all, he wasn't one to sing to himself either. His mother would sometimes stay with him until he did go to sleep, but she wasn't home. His dad would do the same thing, except…he wasn't here either. To the boy's surprise, he felt a trickle of water slide down his cheek. He quickly wiped the tear from his cheek and covered his head in his pillow. He couldn't be crying again, he was tired of that. Even if he thought this, it didn't keep a few more tears from coming out. At this moment in time, crying himself to sleep seemed to be the most likely option.

It had been a few minutes of Hisoka's on and off crying, when he suddenly felt a dip in his bed. Like, someone was sitting down next to him.

"Mommy must be home," He thought to himself. "I probably didn't see her come in." He snuggled into the comforter and tried to get some sleep. As he was barely keeping his eyes closed, he felt a hand on his head, and start petting him. It was comforting, soothing, almost as if it were trying to lull him to sleep. Hisoka smiled; his mom was trying to get him to sleep. He snickered; he didn't know what time it was, but it was probably way past his bed time. Strangely enough, he didn't hear his mother's voice telling him to "go to sleep" like she usually did. He didn't think much of it though, and calmly went to sleep feeling safe.

The next morning, Hisoka woke up from the sunlight beaming through his window blinds. Feeling refreshed, for the first time in weeks, he pushed himself out of bed and out the door. When he went down the stairs, he saw his mother at the table drinking coffee. She raised her head at his footsteps at her eyes widened seeing him out of the room.

"Honey," she said with surprise in her voice. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He replied approaching his mother and giving her a hug. He walked over to the fridge, and grabbed the milk. The mother got up from her seat and helped him pour a glass.

"This is unusual. You're came out of your room." She mentioned continuing to drink her coffee. Hisoka didn't think much of it, until he remembered that he had locked himself in his room for some time.

"I felt…happy today." Perhaps happy wasn't the word he was looking for, but that was the only word that came to mind. "So, I got up." The mother smiled; happy to see her son feeling better. Hisoka then smiled, thinking of the night before. "Thanks for helping me go to sleep last night. It made me feel a lot better." The mother made a confused face.

"Hisoka, what are you talking about?"

"Last night, you came into my room and started rubbing my head. When I started crying, again." The mother's look didn't change.

"Honey, when I came home, the babysitter said you were fast asleep, so I left you alone." Hisoka's eyebrows furrowed.

"So, you…didn't come into my room? You didn't sit on my bed and comfort me?" He tried being more specific to jog her memory. She shook her head.

"Maybe it was your imagination." She said trying to explain the situation. He nodded as she walked out of the kitchen, but he knew it wasn't his imagination. He felt the hand, he felt the dip in the bed. If it wasn't his mother, than who was it? This question remained in his head for the remainder of the day.

That night, Hisoka strangely woke in the middle of the night. At least, he assumed it was the middle of the night. He had planned to go to school the next day, since he was feeling better, so he couldn't afford to wake up at this hour. He tried to force himself back to sleep, but to no avail. This bothered him dearly. If he couldn't go to sleep, he would be tired his first day back! He couldn't let that happened. So, he rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. What to do? As he was forcing his eyes closed, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was just standing near the window; it was a person! He barely made out the features, before he easily recognized them. He shot up from his bed to get a better look at the person, but there was no one there. His eyes were wide; that was impossible. He was clearly there, watching him. It took him a while to fall back asleep after that, for he couldn't get the image out of his head. He knew that was his dad near the window.

"Have a good day, honey!" His mom called out as he exited the house.

"Bye, mommy!" He waved trotting down the porch steps. His house was a small, brick, Cape Cod like house in a neighborhood close to the nearing town. Where his school resided. He was usually dropped off by his mother, but because of her new job, he had to walk there now. Which he, if he made add, was glad his friend's parent's allowed her to walk with him.

A little girl, the age of eight, stood on the sidewalk rocking on her feet. She was quit anxious to see her friend again, as it had been a while since he came to school. She didn't want to bring up the accident at all, so she wondered what she would say.

"Hisoka-kun, you're back! No. How 'bout, hey buddy, long time no see! No, that's stupid." She continuously thought through her words to make sure she didn't bring up any bad memories. Speaking of which, where was he? They had to be at school soon! She looked to her right, and then her left. He wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Kazumi." Shocked at hearing her name, she looked in front of her, to see the silver haired boy right in front of her. She jumped back and into a stereotypical ninja position.

"Hisoka! What the heck?! Don't do that!" She yelled playfully. He gave her a slightly annoyed look.

"You're the one that ignored me, even when I was right in front of you." He argued. She sighed.

"You need to stop with that disappearing, reappearing crap!" She said pouting. He smiled at her, almost like a laugh. He didn't realize how much he missed her. They were best friends after all! They had been neighbors since forever; first meeting at the playground at they're elementary school. That was when he attended the school his dad taught at. He looked down. Becoming a little sad after the memory came up. Kazumi noticed this and nudged his shoulder.

"Come on, Hisoka!" She said with excitement. "Cheer up! Everyone will be happy to see you back!" She gave him her ridiculous smile that made other people smile. He couldn't help himself. He smiled back, and she started laughing. "That's the Hisoka I know!" She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, causing him to trip over his feet. That's when he started laughing along. She definitely made his day.

The day went as you'd expect it too. People, kids and teachers alike, welcomed him back and asked if he was ok. He wasn't much of a talker, but good thing Kazumi was there to explain everything. The classes went by just the same. Although, there were a few things teachers talked to him about. Him being excused from previous work because of the accident and such. He hated how they brought it up every minute of the day, but ignored it anyhow.

Lunchtime soon came, and he sat with Kazumi, as usual, and they took out their bento.

"What do you have?" She asked with a smirk. He smirked back, revealing what he had.

"Rice balls, grilled tilapia, pickled carrots, and mandarin oranges." He said proudly. She made an 'ooh' sound.

"That's pretty good," She admitted, and Hisoka nodded. Proud of his mom's work. "But, wait 'til you see this!" She revealed hers. "Soba, sesame chicken, and pickled strawberries!" Kazumi was pretty sure she won the challenge, but Hisoka knew better. They usually didn't decide the winner anyway.

"That does look good." He approved as Kazumi nodded.

"I'll share it with ya." She said picking up her chopsticks. "If I can have some of yours."

"Sure." He grabbed his chopsticks and grabbed some of the noodles, as she took a rice ball. This was a common thing for them to do. "So, what did I miss while I was gone?"

"Nothing really." She assured waving it off. "Just the usual tests, homework, and etc." She continued her lunch giving him a thumbs up when she tried the rice ball. He chuckled seeing it. He was glad to see that she didn't change how she acted around him. It made him feel more secure, like nothing happened. He continued his lunch before the bell ring.

The day continued on normally and, sooner than later, school ended. The two friends made their way home safely, Kazumi's dad meeting them halfway. Her dad played against his dad in high school, and they both ended up working at the same school. So, he and Kazumi meeting was almost like destiny. (Maybe even a bit coincidental.) Hisoka's mother left the door unlocked so Hisoka could get in the house. When he entered, the babysitter was already there. His mom hadn't come back yet, huh? He sighed; he forgot she didn't come back until later. Oh well, she'll be back soon. He walked up the small flight of stairs and into his room. He didn't stay in there long because his mom had come home soon after.

Later that day, Hisoka spent the remainder of the day watching Steven Universe on the couch. It was the episode where Amethyst and Garnet did their fusion. Even if he'd seen it more than once, it was still interesting to watch. Nearing the end of the episode, Hisoka thought he heard thumping. He muted the tv so that he could hear better, but it seemed to have stopped.

"Must be my imagination." He thought, resuming the episode. When it changed to a commercial, he heard the sound again. Muting it once more, he turned to the direction of the sound again. To his surprise, it didn't stop this time. They almost sounded like footsteps. "Mommy?" He said out loud. They had to be hers, they must be.

"Yes?" She called from upstairs.

"N-never mind! It's nothing!" If she was upstairs, then what was making the noise? He went to go investigate the noise; being the curious boy that he is. As he got closer to the sound, he realized it was coming from the next room. Swallowing his nerves, he peeked his head around the wall, only to see the familiar face of their dog. He sighed in relief.

"Nigou, you scared me!" He said rubbing the dogs head. It barked in reply and Hisoka laughed. It was just Nigou, nothing to be scared of.

Bedtime came around, and the incident had soon been pushed to the back of his head. He laid in his bed fast asleep; the only noise in the house being the fan in his room. Lightly tossing and turning in his sleep, he snuggled into the pillows.

At around seven o' clock am, an hour before he had to get up for school, he heard the thumping again. This time though, it was out in the hallway outside his door.

"Just Nigou, again." He lazily thought to himself, half asleep. Just then, he heard a low whimpering. His eyes shot open; it was Nigou, but he was in the room with him! So…the noise _wasn't_ coming from Nigou. Hisoka propped himself up in bed starring at the door. Maybe it was his mother this time. She could've gotten up to use the bathroom or something. Cautiously, he got up and walked towards the door. His hand was shaking as he reached for the doorknob. He opened it just slightly to see if anyone was in the hallway; nothing. This creeped him out to no extent, but, at the same time, relieving to see that no one was in the house. After that, he closed the door and headed back to bed. However, when he went to turn around, someone was standing there. Surprised, he fell backwards onto the floor, holding his mouth. He wasn't much of a screamer, more of a jumper. He sat there horrified for a moment, when the person bent down and asked if he was alright. It took him a moment to actually realize who it was, but when he did, he just sat there more confused and shocked than he was.

"D-d-daddy?" He asked in a low tone. A small smile appeared on the apparition's face. "H-how?! You're…you're…" Tears started forming at the corners of his eyes. What was going on?! He must've been going crazy! Kuroko put a hand on his son's head.

 _"_ _Don't cry,"_ He told him. Once he spoke, the boy's eyes shot open and just stared. _"You've cried enough this past month."_ Hisoka wiped his eyes sloppily, but still sat there confused.

"H-how are you…why are you…?" He stuttered still trying to make sense of the situation. Kuroko didn't move when the "attempted" question was asked.

 _"_ _Do you know of the stories that people tell? When someone who's passed can't move on?"_ Hisoka nodded. Kuroko gave him a look; a look that could only mean what he thought it meant.

"W-wait, you mean you can't…" Kuroko shook his head. "W-why?! Why can't you?!" Hisoka was gradually getting louder, frustrated and confused.

 _"_ _There's something wrong. And I can't go until I know the problem is fixed."_

"W-what problem?"

 _"_ _When I died, something happened between my friends. Something I don't like."_ Hisoka waited for the reason in anticipation. _"They stopped playing basketball."_ His face changed to an annoyed one after those words.

"Why're you upset about a sport?" He irritatedly questioned his dad.

 _"_ _It's not just the sport, Hisoka."_ Kuroko explained looking up at his son. _"It's the memories that came from it."_ He gave his dad a quizzical look. That…didn't make much sense to him.

"What do you mean?" He asked finally.

 _"_ _There's this story from my generation, I'm sure you've heard of it before. It's about five basketball players that went passed everyone's expectations. They all had exceptional talent for their age, and grew to be the most powerful opponents on the court."_

"Oh yeah, the Generation of Miracles!" He exclaimed smiling. "But, isn't that just a myth they tell at school?"

 _"_ _They're not that old, Hisoka."_ Kuroko protested with a look of disbelief.

"Wait, you mean it's not a myth?"

 _"_ _No."_

"It's a true story?!"

 _"_ _Yes. I played alongside them, and against them."_

"Seriously?!" This was unbelievable! Actually, if he thought about it, there was a lot of unbelievable things going on right now.

 _"_ _I told you, they're not that old."_

"No, that's not it! It's just…there's people that can actually do that?!" He inquired in disbelief. Kuroko just nodded. "So, the Generation of Miracles," He said getting back on track. "What about them?"

 _"_ _Well, the other part of the story where a team's shadow and light created issues for the five prodigies. The team's shadow was me, and the light was my teammate. We changed the way they thought about the sport. And in that same year, we won the Winter Cup."_

"Sorry, but, what does this have to do with you not being able to move on?"

 _"_ _It has everything to do with it." Kuroko tried to explain. "When I died, they stopped playing completely."_ Hisoka blinked, trying to process what that meant. He was only eight, he wasn't going to understand everything when first heard. Kuroko tried to think of a comparison to help Hisoka understand better. _"Do you remember how you acted after you found out about the crash?"_ Hisoka nodded. _"Well, they reacted in a similar way. The only difference is that there's one thing they all remember me by, and that's basketball."_

"Oh, so the basketball is a reminder about what you used to do with them, but it also reminds them that you're gone. So, they're like conflicting feelings." Kuroko nodded.

 _"_ _I can't leave knowing that the thing that brought us all together now repels them. Because of me."_ Kuroko made a sorrowful face as he lowered his head. Hisoka honestly felt bad for his father. He remembered how much the sport meant to his father.

"Well, what are you going to do?" He asked seriously.

 _"_ _Get them to play again, but I need you to help me."_

"What?! Why?!"

 _"_ _Hisoka, I'm dead. My presence is lower than it was when I was alive."_ Hisoka thought about this and shrugged. He made a valid point.

"But, I don't even know what they look like, or where they are even." Hisoka said a little worried.

 _"_ _Just look them up."_ Kuroko told him seriously.

"Look them up?"

 _"_ _Yes. They're the GOM. They're on Wikipedia."_ They had their own article? What were the chances?!

"But, I can't just walk up to them and explain this! They're adults! They wouldn't believe a thing I say!" There were so many problems with this plan, it was ridiculous! During the middle of the argument, a loud, obnoxious ringing echoed throughout the room. His alarm clock; it was time for him to get ready for school. He'd forgotten about how early it was. How he still had to go to school that day. "Anyway, how do I get them to-"But when he turned to face his father again, he was gone. He shivered. Even now, he could never get used to that.

"Hisoka," His mom said peeking through the door. "Time to get up." When she realized that Hisoka was sitting on the floor, she tilted her head curiously. "Did you fall out of bed?"

"Um, yeah. I fell." He mumbled getting up.

At the school, a very grumpy looking Kazumi sat at the table her and Hisoka usually sat at.

"Where is he?" She asked herself glancing around. "He's the one that said I needed to be here." As she glanced around some more, her eyes shifted to the space in front of her, and saw the silver haired boy sitting there. She jumped back, getting in the ninja position.

"Hey." He said seeing her reaction.

"We seriously need to get you a bell, or something!" She shouted across the table.

"I don't need a bell." He protested taking a sip from a juice pouch. Kazumi pouted. He was well aware that he startled people on a daily bases! He must think that it's funny or something like that. "Hey, Kazumi, I need to tell you something." This caught her attention.

"Sure, what's up?"

"First, you have to promise you won't tell anyone!" He said using hand motions and putting emphasis on the word anyone. She nodded.

"I, Kazumi Takao, promise not to tell anyone! No matter how much I want to!" She swore putting her left hand in the air, and her right on her heart. Hisoka took a deep breath. Ok, she promised.

"I…saw my dad this morning." The table grew quite, which was unusual.

"Look, Hisoka, I know you're still pretty upset, but you really need to let go." Kazumi whispered leaning over the table.

"No, Kazumi, I'm serious! I mean, he wasn't alive, no, but-"

"So, you saw a ghost?" She clarified raising an eyebrow. Hisoka slowly nodded his head. Nervous about how she would react. "Cool! What did he look like?!" Well, he didn't expect that specific reaction. He should've known better; this was Kazumi they were talking about.

"He looked the same. Maybe a bit foggy, though. You know, like, whitish." He explained to a very enthusiastic Kazumi.

"Cool! So, was it like one of those ghost stories where you heard strange noises, and when you went to go investigate BAM he was there?!" She inquired talking quickly.

"Sort of, but no. He was in my room, and he talked to me."

"Oh, did he tell you his last goodbyes before leaving, or something?"

"No, he actually said that he needed my help in order to move on." He explained the problem that Kuroko was going through, and didn't leave out a single word while explaining it. He leaned against his hand as he propped himself on the table. He still didn't have a clue of how he was supposed to help.

"Hm, I don't really get it, but I think you should look them up first." The black haired girl suggested. "You can even do it on the school's computers." He thought about this. Maybe he should go with what he knew he could do first. That was a start, and it was a good start.

"Alright. I'll do that first." The two of them went to their school's library and chose a computer.

"Ok, Generation of Miracles." He mouthed typing the words. And, behold, when he clicked enter, a bunch of links popped up on the screen. They clicked the first one there, which was obviously Wikipedia, and the article came up. Along with a picture of the "Generation of Miracles." "Hey, there's my dad!" He pointed a finger to the screen where Kuroko was in the picture.

"Was he one of them?" Kazumi asked observing the picture.

"No, there was only five of them. That, and my dad sucked at basketball. So, that would be impossible." She snorted at her friends comment as they continued through. "They were in middle school?! Holy crap! They must've been amazing!"

"How old are they now?"

"I don't know. As old as my dad, maybe?" The kept scrolling through, not bothering to read all of it. Suddenly, Kazumi jumped up and pointed to a picture.

"Hey, I know that guy!" She exclaimed pointing to a guy with green hair. "He's been to my house before! It was a long time ago, though."

"I recognize most of these people." Hisoka replied. "But, I don't remember them ever coming to our house." Were they at the funeral, and that's why they look familiar? Who knows. "This still doesn't tell me how I'm supposed to get their attention though." He existed out of the browser and stared into the screen. What other options were there? Sure, now, he knew what they looked like, but he didn't know where they were and etc. Then, he realized something. Something that could be crucial to the plan. "Kazumi, you said that that guy's been to your house before, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. And my mom buys Kise's magazines. I don't know what's interesting about-"

"That means your parents know them too, right?"

"I guess so. Why?" Hisoka stood up in sudden realization.

"If _my dad_ knew them, and _your parents_ knew them, then there's a chance that they have kids too!" That was a high possibility! And when he got home, he could just ask his dad if they do or not!

"Ok, I sort of know where you're going with this," She said scratching the back of her head. "But, how does that help at all?"

"Because if I can't talk to their parents, then I could talk to them! They're more likely to listen to me!" The plan was foolproof. Why did it take him this long to think of this?! When he got home, he would definitely have to tell his dad about this. As Hisoka walked away, proud of himself, Kazumi followed close behind in confusion. She didn't quite understand the situation, or the plan that her friend had in mind, but if he was so sure that it was going to work, then she would just have to go along with it. She was his best friend for a reason, after all.


	2. Chapter 2: Here's the Plan

When Hisoka got home, he immediately ran upstairs to his room. Completely ignoring the babysitter.

"Dad!" He called out. Would he appear again? Where was he even if he would appear? "Dad!" He called out again.

" _What?"_ Hisoka jumped back. Maybe Kazumi was right, they kind of do need bells. Pushing the sudden scare out of his mind, he faced his father. He needed to tell him his plan right away. There was no other way to cope with it.

"You said you needed my help, right?" He asked first. Kuroko nodded as Hisoka was clearing his thoughts. This had to go in an order in order for it to sound like he didn't just think of it now. Which he did, but that wasn't the point. "You're friends, or the 'GOM', do they happen to have any children?" Again, he was going in an order. Once he asked this question, Kuroko put a finger to his mouth.

 _"_ _I believe some of them do. Why?"_ Hisoka's face brightened. So far so good; nothing's destroyed his plan yet.

"Because, my plan is that I can talk to them instead. They will be more likely to listen to me." Kuroko thought about this thoroughly. Kids do tend to believe in ghost stories more than adults. However…

 _"_ _It would have to depend on the age. If they're older, you'll have more trouble convincing them."_ Well, he didn't think of that one. Shoot! There was a problem after all! Hisoka facepalmed himself. He had to think of a way around this. If he didn't, there was no way he could help!

"Would I happen to know any of them?" He asked, trying to get somewhere.

 _"_ _You were still just a baby when you met them. You wouldn't remember."_ He guessed that that was still during a time when they kept in touch. He nodded; still no way around this. He couldn't stop thinking of it. There had to be another way to go with this.

"Is there anything else you could tell me about them? I'm having trouble putting things together." He asked as politely as possible. He didn't want to say that he flat out had no idea what to do.

 _"_ _Kagami-kun tends to jump from Japan to America, so I can't promise you'll ever see him,"_ Hisoka nodded. _"Akashi-kun doesn't live close to the area at all, so that's a problem,"_ He nodded again. _"Midorima-kun's busy 24/7 because of his work, but he's at Takao-kun's house at times,"_ Ok, so far, there's not even a chance of him meeting any of them. How was he going to interact? _"I don't know where Aomine-kun would be, nor Murasakibara-kun, but Kise-kun's still in the modeling business as far as I know."_

"No offence dad, but how am I supposed to help you if my chances of meeting them are below zero?" The boy questioned in all seriousness. He didn't intend for it to sound sarcastic, for he knew how much this meant to his father, but it came out like that anyhow. Hisoka saw the look in his father's eyes, and immediately felt guilty. It was doubt. "Dad, don't worry, ok? I'll figure something out." The look didn't descend from his face, but he smiled anyway. Now he really needed to think things through.

He didn't see Kuroko the next day, even if he secretly wanted him to appear. This was probably because Hisoka's plan didn't, well, come out as planned. This still bugged him.

Hisoka leaned back into his seat; ignoring his teacher's lectures. Out of habit, he stared up at the blank canvas called a ceiling. He tended to do that when he had trouble thinking, or when he was in deep thought.

"Looks like I'm back to where I started." He thought to himself sighing. "This is a real pain in the butt." Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Snapped out of his thought, he glanced over to see none other than his friend Kazumi.

"What're you doing, Hisoka? We're going to another class today remember?" Hisoka had forgotten that they were going to another class. Both teachers had decided to combine their classes to do a, sort of, movie day. Now, of course, the movie had to be somewhat educational, or related to what they were learning at the moment, but that wasn't the point. The point was, everyone was leaving the class and he was still in his seat. He quickly got from his seat, and the two caught up with the group as they walked down the hall. Since they were in the hallway, they were told to be as quiet as possible since classes were still going on. Go figure. However, Kazumi didn't listen very well, as she still whispered to him while they walked. Even though whispering not very loud, she was still disobeying the teacher by talking.

Even when they were watching the movie, which was _Spirited Away_ in fact, Hisoka couldn't stop thinking about the problem. Being eight years of age really sucked at times like these. Because he's not old enough to actually have a chance of the GOM listening to him, and he was still at an age where he could barely go anywhere by himself. He didn't want to get his mother involved in this, as he didn't know how she would react. Plus, Kuroko would've told her if he wanted her to assist. As far as he knew, he hasn't made himself known to her. So, he wouldn't bring it up. He put a lot of thought into this, and he, finally, came up with a conclusion.

"Kazumi." He whispered loud enough to get her attention. Hearing her name, she turned her head towards him.

"Hm?" She said, making sure he knew she was listening. He took a breath; a serious look on his face.

"I'm calling a meeting," He whispered. "Code: Grey2." Kazumi's eyes went wide at first, but her face changed to serious as she nodded. She knew exactly what he meant.

After school, Kazumi ran as fast as she could to her house. Her house was a simple, craftsman house. It wasn't extremely huge like most people would expect. It was actually of average size. It was a toffee cream color, with a beautiful front porch and a great backyard. That's where she was heading.

As she ran in, tossing her bag on the front steps, she rushed past her father while heading out back.

"Kazumi, where're you heading?" He questioned after her curiously. She stopped only to replace her flats with sneakers.

"The treehouse," She answered without lifting her head. "Hisoka needs to meet me there." Takao stared at his daughter in confusion.

"Then, why do you look like you're in such a rush?" Kazumi groaned getting up.

"It's a code: Grey2!" She shouted. "And it's an emergency!" Takao didn't seem to get the memo. Kazumi groaned again. "The grey means intelligence. Meaning he needs my opinion on a certain topic. The two means planning. Meaning he needs my help to come up with a battle strategy!" She muttered a, "Geez, you're so stupid!" and ran out the back door. Takao just laughed upon hearing this. Most would think that in this day and age that kids would be focused on videogames and TV instead of going outside or even reading a simple book. But, from Takao's observations, Kazumi and Hisoka weren't like that. When they got together, they rarely ever just sat down and played a videogame. Instead, they went outside to play something along the lines of _spies_ or _ninjas._ The treehouse made a big difference in what they did also.

A bit of background information, Kazumi's house had a million trees in the backyard. They called it a forest, even if they were told it wasn't. The trees reached up all the way to the clouds, and there were so many clumped together, that once you walked in, there was barely any sunlight as it was all shaded. Yeah, it was a forest. One day, while Kazumi was walking around in the forest, she discovered something that she found amazing: an unfinished treehouse! Or, maybe it was finished and it was just rundown, she couldn't tell. But, she just had to tell her parents about it, and when she did, they got her grandfather, who was flawless at constructing, to fix it up for her. It took a month or two to finish, because stuff like that costs money, but they got it done. The treehouse was high in the trees, a small box shape with a triangle roof. There was also a rope bridge connected to the door, which also connected to the crow's nest. (Like one on a ship. Not an actual crow's nest.)And there were big squares cut out in replace for windows. How they got up in the treehouse, however, was the tricky part. The ladder to get to the treehouse wasn't even near the treehouse. First, they had to climb a specific tree with odd branches. One that only Kazumi, Hisoka, and they're parents knew. There were steps on the tree where the crow's nest was, but they have to climb that one tree in order to get to it. Kazumi and Hisoka made sure that they were the only ones who knew how to get up there. They didn't want anyone stealing their secret hideout.

Hisoka went through Kazumi's house soon after she did, as it was the only way to get to the backyard. He said hello to her father and ran out to the treehouse. He ran out past the treehouse to the tree with the weird branches. (That's how they recognize it.) He then proceeded to climb it until he was close enough to climb up the steps. After that, he hauled himself up into the crow's nest and across the bridge to the treehouse. When he opened the door, which was just an old blanket used to cover up the entrance, he saw Kazumi already there sitting with her legs crossed. (Crisscross applesauce.)

"Alright, Hisoka, why'd you call code: Grey2?" She asked. A while back, the two of them had come across this book about colors and their meanings. They thought it was the coolest thing, so they decided to create _secret codes_ for them to use just for fun. They did the same with numbers; just to add a little something extra to their codes. It took them a while to remember what each color meant, and what each number meant, but they were so determined to have these codes, that they memorized them anyway. They were such dorks! Hisoka sat down in front of her in the same position she was in.

"I called it because I couldn't think of anything else to do." He started, getting her attention. "Turns out, my plan, the one to help my dad, had more issues than I thought." Kazumi nodded, listening to her friend speak. "I mean, I don't even think I could meet any of them. And if they do have kids, I don't know anything about them. How old they are, what school they go to, where they live. Nothing. But, this _plan_ is the only plan that could possibly work. I just can't work my way around it."

"Well, what I think you should do, is find out more about the GOM." She suggested. "If they're the ones you really need to convince, it might help to know a little about them." She had a point, but he already thought of that. There isn't much about them now; just from when they were still playing basketball in school.

"I know where you're getting at, but there's not much about them now. Heck, one of them might not even live here. His name was…oh, what's his name?"

 _"_ _Kagami-kun."_ Hisoka perked up.

"Yes! Kagami-ku-wait…" Kazumi wouldn't know that. That didn't even sound like her voice! Realizing this, he turned to his right to see Kuroko sitting right next to him. He jumped back, surprised. Kazumi looked at him weirdly; thinking he saw a bug or something. "Dad! What're you doing here?!"

 _"_ _I followed you up here."_ He explained with an unchanged expression. _"You looked like you were having some difficulty."_ Geez, he didn't even know he could leave the house like that! Why didn't he tell him?! More importantly, how long has he been able to follow him like this?! Those would come later. For now, he had more important things to worry about.

"Dad? You mean…Kuroko-san's here?" Kazumi inquired Hisoka as she pointed to where he was looking at. Hisoka was confused. He was clearly there! He could see him, so she could, right? This thought immediately went down the drain, as he saw her looking around confusedly.

"Why can't she see you?" Hisoka asked his father. He sighed.

 _"_ _Being able to make you see AND hear me takes up a lot of energy."_ Kuroko explained the best he could. _"Making MORE people see and hear me takes up more of it. I can only do so much, Hisoka."_ Oh, so that's why he didn't see him every day!

"Sorry, Kazumi. Daddy can only have me see him." Hisoka tried to explain to the girl. "But, he is here! I promise!" Kazumi seemed to understand completely as she just smiled that goofy smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it! I believe you!" Kazumi was always so easy to talk to. She believed everything, even if to others it sounded completely ridiculous. That's one reason why they got along so well. Hisoka remained skeptical about certain things, while Kazumi wasn't very skeptical at all. They balanced each other out you could say. "Anyway, you called code: Grey2. That means you need a different plan, right?" Hisoka nodded. Both of them thought about what they knew and how they could piece it together. "Ok, first off, who're the people?" Kuroko told Hisoka one by one the names of the people, as Hisoka repeated it for Kazumi to hear.

"Kagami, Aomine, Akashi, Murasakibara, Kise, and Midorima." He said counting it off with his finger.

"Wait, you said Kise," Kazumi pointed out. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"You said your mom buys his magazines." He reminded her. To his surprise, she shook her head at this.

"No, well yes, but it's something else." Hisoka and Kuroko didn't quite know what to think of this. How else would Kise's name sound familiar to her? Takao didn't know Kise all too well. Her mother maybe? As they were skimming through options, that were more than likely untrue, they saw Kazumi snap her fingers. "I got it!" She announced excited. "One of our gym teachers said his name!" The room went silent. That didn't make any sense. Why would she hear it at school? By a gym teacher nonetheless. And that's when it struck him.

"Someone in our school must have the last name of Kise." He mumbled, but still audible to their ears. "Dad, do you remember Kise-san ever having a child?" Kuroko thought about this before answering.

 _"_ _I think he did have a kid, actually. He was around the same age as you, I believe."_ Hisoka smiled upon hearing this.

"Kazumi, did you hear that?!"

"No."

"Oh, right, sorry. Dad said that Kise-san had a kid our age!" Hisoka clarified. Kazumi's face brightened, getting a clue of where he was going.

"So, it's possible his kid goes to our school! And since the gym teacher said their name, they might be in our class!"

"Exactly!" He said high-fiving the girl. "And that means I can actually get somewhere! I just need to talk to them!" With their plan finally thought out, they left the treehouse and Hisoka went home. Of course, his mom picked him up and thanked Kazumi's parents for letting him stay over before they left, so he was able to stay for a few more minutes or so. Since their parents always conversed for a while before they actually left.

The next day, during gym class, Hisoka sat with Kazumi during their water break. They didn't know the name of who they were looking for, they didn't even know the gender. They working on a thin line. One mess up, and they were back where they started.

"You think we should just ask?" Kazumi suggested taking a drink of her water. He shook his head.

"No. I feel like that would be a bit on the creepy side. Since we don't know much about them." How were they going to go about this? This was the one thing they didn't think about while discussing the plan. Suddenly, they heard a very loud smacking sound; followed by a very loud "ow!" The whole class quickly turned their heads towards the direction of the sounds. They weren't very pleasant sounds, as it sounded like someone was hurt. And they were right.

Where they were looking, they saw a few kids looking at two other kids. One was standing up straight, the other was on the ground holding his left eye. On the ground laid a soccer ball, which they assumed was what hurt the boy. The boy on the ground looked up at the one standing angrily.

"Oi, _pretty boy,_ what was that for?!" He yelled. So, it was done on purpose? The boy standing grabbed the boy from the collar and pulled him up to his face. Which looked angrier than the boy he was holding.

"Call me pretty boy one more time, and your nose will be in your skull." The other threatened darkly. He then let the, now terrified, boy go and walked away to, what everyone thought, was the bathroom. No one knew how to process what had just happened. No one even knew what that threat meant. They just knew that it was very dark and cold. As Hisoka tried to think about what the kid got so worked up about, he overheard two of the gym teachers talking. What they said made him freeze. He stood from where he was and jogged after the boy. When Kazumi tried to ask where he was going, he simply just said, "bathroom."

When he was at the edge of the door, he heard the sound of splashing and peeked in. The boy from before was splashing his face with water.

"He must be cooling his head." Hisoka thought. Wondering if it was a good idea to talk to this kid. He was about the same height as him, had straight black hair, and caramel colored eyes with long eyelashes. It was no wonder they called him _pretty boy._ He took a breath; it was now or never. After that, he walked into the room, where the boy stopped and stared at him. Hisoka lifted his hand. "Hey." He greeted. He thought that, at least, saying hello would suffice. The other scowled.

"What do you want?" He asked a bit irritated. Hisoka stepped closer.

"Wh-what happened back there?" He asked trying to make conversation. The boy 'tsked' as he avoided his gaze.

"It's none of your business." He muttered. So far, he wasn't getting anywhere. This guy completely refused to talk to anyone. He couldn't even pretend he was in the conversation. "I don't even know you."

"Oh, I'm Hisoka Kuroko." He introduced, a bit taken back by his last sentence. "What's your name?"

"Yoshiyuki." He grumbled. "I know, it's disgusting."

"No it's not. It's a nice name." Hisoka attempted to enlighten. "Why do you think like that?" Yoshiyuki's scowl deepened at the thought. Leaving Hisoka a bit confused.

"Cause Ryouta picked it out." Ryouta? Was that Kise's real name? He wasn't completely sure, but he decided to make a push.

"You mean…Kise? Isn't he your dad?" Once he said that, Yoshiyuki turned and got up in Hisoka's face. Just like he did with the other kid.

"Ryouta is _not_ my dad." Hisoka stared, surprised. Yoshiyuki never yelled at people when he threatened them. He made a face, an angry one, and just muttered something in a low voice. It was like he was warning them that he wasn't going to start a fight, but he'll beat the crap out of them if they did. This was what made Hisoka start to sweat nervously. "He's a bimbo, but numbskulls like you wouldn't know that, would you?" The silverette's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't know what that meant, but he had the feeling that it was an insult. Hisoka stepped closer to the kid and stared him down.

"You shouldn't talk about Kise-san like that. My dad went to school with him, and he sounds like he would be a great father." All of a sudden, Yoshiyuki started to laugh. It was a mirthless, brittle laugh. One that just made someone annoyed because they knew something sarcastic, or threatening, was coming afterwards. As Yoshiyuki's laughter slowly faded, he glared up at Kuroko's son like he was completely, and utterly, stupid. Hisoka didn't enjoy that look.

"That's exactly what I'd expect from dunces like you." He growled, making Hisoka flinch. "You can't expect a whore like him to be anywhere near a good father. And if you think you can just barge in here and change my mind, you're dead wrong." He walked past Hisoka, but not without shoving him to the side. "I don't need a sugarcoated louse like you supporting that bimbo Ryouta. Especially when yours is dead." And he left. Hisoka rubbed his arm, where he was shoved, and glared at the door.

"What a jerk." He mumbled to himself.

 _"_ _He does have a foul attitude."_ He heard someone agree with him. He turned to his left, and was, again, startled by Kuroko's sudden appearance.

"Y-yeah, he does." He said afterward. Then, when Hisoka made eye contact with his father, he jumped at his expression. He didn't think he'd ever seen his dad angry before. It alarmed him.

 _"_ _I don't like the way he talks about Kise-kun,"_ He said squinting at the door. _"And I especially don't like the way he talks to you."_ Why would he talk about Kise like that? What did he possibly do to make his son loathe him so much?

"Daddy, it's ok." Hisoka said trying to calm his father down, but to no avail. "Besides, we don't know what happened. He probably just got worked up." Hisoka made his way outside, as he still had to go to class. "We'll talk to him some other time. When he's not so angry." Then, he ran off to the rest of the class. Kuroko followed him; even if he wasn't satisfied with how the conversation turned out.

Later on that day, moments before school was over, Yoshiyuki was picked up by his neighbor. His mother was a photographer, and couldn't afford to miss any work days. The neighbor, who was a very close friend of his mother, looked back in the seat where he sat.

"Yuki-kun, what did you do today?" She asked the grumpy child.

"I kicked a soccer ball, and it hit some other kid in the face." He admitted without a care in the world.

"And?" She pushed on. He groaned.

"And…threatened to shove his nose into his head."

"Yuki," She said sounding disappointed. "You can't keep doing this! Your mother constantly gets these phone calls from the school, and she gets worried!" Yoshiyuki blocked her voice out. He's gotten these lectures so many times now, that now it's just annoying. When she dropped him off at his house, he thanked her and walked in. Slumping on the couch he closed his eyes ready to just take a nap. If people knew why he did these things, they would understand him. But, they don't know. Nobody knows but him, and that's what ticks him off.

A few minutes after he started resting, he heard the sound of something falling over. Curious on where the sound came from, he opened his eyes and looked around the room. Everything seemed to be in order, so it came from another room? Deciding to see which room it was, he stood up off the couch and checked every room. They all turned out clean. Except for one.

"Ah, must've fallen off the desk." He told himself as he walked into his mother's room and picked up the frame. As he turned over, his face got a quizzical look. "Oh, this is one of Ryouta's pictures." The picture was of him in middle school, a part of some sort of sports group. Most likely basketball. "Hey," He focused his attention on a person in the picture. "He looks like that one kid." Well, he did say that his father went to school with his. This was probably how they met. When he was about to put the picture down, he noticed something in the picture that made him get a closer look. There were…two of that guy. Did he have a twin, or brother, or something? No that can't be right. This one didn't look like it was part of the picture. In fact, it kind of looked like…

Scared, Yoshiyuki turned around quickly to see no one there. He glanced around the room, not moving. He was getting paranoid. He knew that that was a reflection on the frame, and of the guy in the picture! Was it his imagination maybe? No, it wasn't. That reflection was right behind his reflection. Meaning that _someone was behind him._ He shuddered. Wasn't that guy's father….dead? He gulped.

"You're thinking crazy," He told himself. "There's no ghost. Ghosts aren't even real. You're just getting a bit freaked out."

 _"_ _That's the point."_

"HOLY CRAP!" He screamed running out the door. He heard someone speak right in his ear. He literally felt breathing against his neck. He stared into the room horrified. Now, he was fully convinced. Still, what the heck was going on?! This had never happened before, so why now?!

The following day, Hisoka's mother sat in the waiting room of a hospital. She wasn't in any urgency, like what most people would think going in so early in the morning. However, this was the only time she was able to do it. Most adults would understand the schedule.

After waiting for about thirty minutes, Hisoka's mother was told by a nurse that she could go on back. She nodded and followed the nurse back. Now, like usual, she had a regular check up with the nurse, and now had to wait for the actual doctor to come in. There was not much she was worried about coming here. Just a little unsure about herself.

It wasn't long before she heard the door open. Directing her attention towards the door, she gave a pleasant smile at him while he gave her a shocked expression.

"Eirin, I wasn't expecting you to be my patient." He stated pushing up his glasses.

"It's been a while, Midorima-kun." She said as he closed the door. "How have you been?"

"I've been well, in fact." He answered with a small smile. "How have you been? I know things have become difficult for you."

"We're doing fine, Midorima-kun. Thank you for your concern." He gave her a sympathetic look. He had already known that she was very delicate towards certain things, like death, but she was one to become stronger and not weaken. That was most likely one of the traits that Kuroko fell in love with. That was one thing they shared.

"Now, you being here, I can only assume one thing, in fact." He said while testing her blood pressure. The usual things doctors would do. Eirin let out a nervous chuckle looking at her husband's former teammate.

"Well, I'm not completely sure yet, but it has been a couple of weeks. I'm just here to make sure." She scratched her cheek cutely, looking unsure of herself. Midorima nodded.

"I see. Then, I'll be sure to give you some confirmation." Eirin nodded as Midorima sat down in front of her.

Midorima was an Obstetrician.


End file.
